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Wednesday, September 30, 2015

To Boldly Go, a 50th birthday gift for my Star Trek-lovin' brother Jeff, is finished and now living in California. Jeff's birthday is tomorrow (Thursday, October 1st), so I am pleased that I finished his quilt on time and managed to deliver it early (thank you U.S. Postal Service!). Although, the quilt's label is still in progress...I told Jeff I would mail it to him and he could sew it on the back...

This quilt was quite capably held by my friend Eleanor who is quite tall!

I admit that I've made this pattern at least twice so far (check 2014 Quilts to see it in blue and in purple), but I'm impressed at how great it looks great in conversation prints! Which is good, because I have at least two more Lemonade quilts planned--in horse fabrics and cat prints (although the possibilities now appear endless: animal prints, pug fabric...).

Jeff opened the quilt tonight while Face-Timing with me on the iPhone so I was able to see how much he liked it!

Here are some close-ups of some of the great fabrics in this quilt. I collected Star Trek fabrics for a couple of years in preparation. There are at least 19 different Star Trek fabrics in this quilt. Each of the large squares are repeated in the quilt (a total of twice) plus I repeated the three sashing fabrics in each row. I thought the colors in these prints were rich and vibrant, so I eliminated a couple of black and white Star Trek prints that I will make into pillowcases along with one flannel print.

Need to make one of your own? There are still some great Star Trek fabrics available at eQuilter (no affiliation, just a happy shopper). You can also check on Etsy and Ebay or just do a Google search for Star Trek fabric. I was able to buy some of these prints at Joann Fabrics a few years ago, but they don't seem to carry Star Trek fabric anymore. They've moved on to Star Wars. If your Trekkie is a purist, make sure you know the difference between original Star Trek and Star Trek, the Next Generation. My brother only likes the original Star Trek.

This is the back of the quilt. I actually found the large piece of Star Trek fabric on the clearance rack at Joann Fabrics last May and I snatched it right up. The black and white fabric (a seizure-inducing print in person) was bought for $3.99 a yard at Sewphisticated in Dorchester.

Of course I have a little (ahem, a lot) of Star Trek fabric left over, so my Star Trek lovin' niece Rachel will no doubt get a Star Trek quilt of her own, just so she doesn't steal her Dad's quilt!

Happy Birthday Jeff--May you live long and prosper! And Happy Birthday to my brother-in-law Paul (neither of whom reads my blog).

Sunday, September 6, 2015

I've been sewing since I was a little girl and I started quilting around 1989. In my early days of quilting I took a photo (with a real camera and film!) of every project I made and put it in a photo album. One day, I will ask Mike to scan the photos so you can see my real golden oldies.

Here are a few at random. I washed my Stack-n-Whack quilt the other day and decided it was time to put it in the blog. Remember when Bethany Reynolds was all the rage? I love her techniques and I have all her books. I took a couple of classes with her and she is a wonderful teacher.

The Pug Boys and I use this quilt every day. It lives on our couch and covers the chaise where the four of us sit when we watch TV.

My friend Sandie Husby, who blogs at the Lone Quilter, quilted this for me.

I saw my Aunt Marcia and Uncle Stanley in July when we went to California for my nephew Ben's Bar Mitzvah. I gave them this quilt in honor of their 55th wedding anniversary. My Aunt and Uncle live in Hawaii on the Big Island and their house is decorated with an Asian theme. This quilt is made from a kit purchased at the Cambridge Quilt Shop during a Boston Shop Hop in 2006. I had originally laid out the top as a long skinny wall hanging for my stairwell, but decided to break it into two wall hangings. My friend Susie from my office has the other one, seen here.

Sometimes it takes a few years for a quilt to marinate before you know who the intended recipient is. I finished this quilt in October 2012. I bought the kit on a Shop Hop in 2006. Sometimes time gets away from you...

My friend Jeff asked me to make a quilt for his wife Dorothy in purple and blue. Of course, I used my Tried 'n True pattern, Yellow Brick Road because it's fast and easy. I didn't have a photo of this quilt, so I asked Jeff to provide one.

I made this quilt for Dorothy in 2007 before Lily (standing on the ladder at right) was even born. It appears to be holding up well.

Friday, September 4, 2015

Here's my pretty quilt, Wild Thing, to show you today! Wild Thing is made from 2013 Brown Bagger birthday blocks. I provided all the fabric to the group. The quilt has hot pink batik for the background with animal prints for the blocks. I made the top last October, then decided to add an additional pink outer border in March and finally finished it on August 17th. It was machine quilted by Kate Mitchell. I think it is going to live on our living room sofa.

Those cute legs belong to my handsome husband Mike.

Splendor in the grass!

Here is my favorite quilt model, LarryPug.

Here are the handsome pug boys with Wild Thing. From left to right: Elvis, LarryPug and Romeo.

There is yummy leopard print flannel on the back. Check out Kate's lovely machine quilting.

Thursday, September 3, 2015

Here is Giacomo out for a stroll. He is probably walking with my brother Gary. Gary loves to go for walks and spend time with Giacomo.

Cousin Giacomo is my brother Gary's dog and he has never met his pug cousins. Part of the reason is that Giacomo lives in New Jersey and the other part of the reason is that Giacomo is selective in who he chooses as his dog friends. His arch enemies unfortunately are Marley and Java, two cute pugs who live down the hall from Giacomo in his apartment building. I certainly wouldn't want Giacomo to think that Romeo, Elvis, or LarryPug was Marley or Java!

Giacomo is a Schipperke and Gary and his wife Susie adopted him from the Tinton Falls animal shelter.

Here is Giacomo on the quilt I gave to Gary when he visited me last September. As those of you with black cats or black dogs know, it can be hard to take a good photo of them, they usually just look like a shadow.

Gary loves this photo. When Giacomo sleeps he sticks out his little pink tongue. Cute!

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

September is here and my best 6-year old gal pal is heading off to first grade! How on earth did Lily get so big? And she's riding a 2-wheeler now too! I had lunch with her last week so we could catch-up. We both like Panera's macaroni and cheese.

Here I am with Lily. We've been having lunch together since she was an infant. Her Dad Jeff is a former co-worker and a very dear friend of mine. He is now a professional photographer and took the photos at my wedding to Mike.

I had to make Lily some back to school owl pillowcases. Lily is crazy for owls.

Lily surprised me with a present she had made. It's a popsicle stick picture frame. I'll have to put our picture in it.

Lily gets her good looks from these two people: Mom Dorothy and Dad Jeff. Aren't they cute?

It's also back to school for niece Rachel and nephew Sam, both college freshman (at CalPoly and Wentworth Institute); nephew Josh who started 11th grade; and nephew Ben who became a high school freshman. Ironically, you're never too old for Aunt Nancy's pillowcases, Rachel just requested some for her college dorm room.

Lily informed me over lunch that there is a gap in her seasonal owl pillowcase collection, so I'm on the hunt for Birthday-themed owl fabric and Easter-themed owl fabric. Let me know if you've seen any. She does have: Christmas owls, Halloween owls, Valentine owls and Saint Patrick's day owls. And if you come up with any other owl-print holiday fabric, bring it on! Last night, I won a piece of 4th of July owls on Ebay, so one less holiday to search for.

About Me

I've been married to Mike, my soul-mate and better half for five years now, but we still feel like newlyweds. I'm "PugMom" to Romeo, Elvis, and LarryPug, the world's cutest pugs. I love fabric! I have the world's largest quilting UFO list and I keep adding new projects!